This week I’ve been reading many posts from educators who are reflecting on #ISTE2015 (or #notatISTE15.) Most are finally getting the chance to decompress as they try to process the massive amounts of information with which they were presented during those intense conference days.

As I participated in ISTE Live I gathered a plethora of articles, tools, strategies, videos, and other resources and added them to my ISTE2015 Symabaloo.  Like those other educators, I’ve begun revisiting those links and contemplating how this new knowledge will transform my instruction.  After all, that’s the whole point of ISTE right?  The big takeaways (at least for me) were the 4Cs (creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking,) global learning, equity of access, makerspaces, resilience, passion, and project based learning.  It’s not about a tool or gadget or website.  The whole point is to transform education through technology.

Mrs. S- The Ho-condo-fro-ingo-monitor from http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

Sometimes though, these tools are just plain fun!  So I have to take a few lines to share this. At some point, someone shared a website called Build Your Wild Self.  Published by the New York Zoos and Aquarium this website allows you to generate an image that combines your physical attributes with the body parts of various wild animals.  You can then download the image, share the image, or download a pdf version that describes your special features.

For example, here’s me as The Ho-condo-fro-ingo-monitor.

“Red river hog ears-­ Your red river hog ears have long black and white tassels. They can fluff out as a defense mechanism to make you look bigger and intimidate predators.